Complete Release (pdf)  I  at SMC:  Live Video ($)  Live Stats  I  at PEPP:  Live Video  Live Stats

PORTLAND PILOTS (9-13, 4-5 WCC)
at SAINT MARY’S GAELS (14-6, 6-2 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013
Tip-off: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Moraga, Calif.
Arena (Capacity): McKeon Pavilion (5,000)
Live Video/Audio: SMCGaels.com ($)
Live Stats: SMCGaels.com
 
POR vs. SMC
Overall Series: 20-33
Here: 13-12
There: 6-19
Neutral: 1-2
Last 5/10: 0-5/3-7
Last 1: @SMC 75, POR 58 (February 9, 2012)
 
PORTLAND PILOTS (9-13, 4-5 WCC)
at PEPPERDINE WAVES (4-16, 1-8 WCC)
Date: Saturday, February 9, 2013
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Malibu, Calif.
Arena (Capacity): Firestone Fieldhouse (3,104)
Live Video/Audio/Stats: PepperdineSports.com (free)
 
POR vs. PEPP
Overall Series: 21-34
Here:  14-12
There: 6-20
Neutral: 1-2
Last 5/10: 3-2/6-4
Last 1: @POR 57, PEPP 51 (January 31, 2013)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots take their three-game winning streak on the road this week as they play a pair of West Coast Conference games in California.
• The Pilots will first be in Moraga for a Thursday night game against the Saint Mary’s Gaels at McKeon Pavilion at 6 p.m.
• Portland then travels to Malibu on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tilt against the Pepperdine Waves at Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots won both WCC games at home last week, defeating Pepperdine 57-51 on Thursday night before topping LMU 65-63 on Saturday afternoon.
• The Pilots built a big lead at the half against the Waves before holding on for the win; Amy Pupa just missed matching a program single-game record with 19 rebounds.
• On Saturday, Jasmine Wooton hit the go-ahead lay-up with 14 seconds left and Loyola Marymount missed the potential game-tying shot at the buzzer as the Pilots prevailed 65-63; Kari Luttinen led the way with 15 points for the Pilots.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Senior Amy Pupa’s 19 rebounds last Thursday against Pepperdine are a career-high and she missed tying a program single-game record by one.
• Sophomore Kari Luttinen nabbed two straight WCC Player of the Week awards in December.
• Seven different players have scored in double figures this season, six players have led the team in scoring and two Pilots, Kari Luttinen & Annika Holopainen, have games with at least 20 points; Holopainen scored a team season-high of 29 points at USF (Jan. 12).
• Portland’s game against Boston College on Nov. 24 marked the 1,000th game in the history of the women’s basketball program, which dates back to 1977.
• Portland does not have one senior on its roster.
• Junior Cassandra Brown is utilizing her redshirt year after undergoing off-season surgery.
• Junior Alexis Byrd missed six games in November due to a hamstring injury.
• Three of Portland’s five freshmen originally hail from overseas, with Ellen Nurmi and Annika Holopainen both coming to The Bluff from Finland; Sara Hernandez is from Italy.
• Portland has been to the post-season twice during the past four years, going to the WNIT in 2009 and the inaugural WBI in 2010.
• Head coach Jim Sollars has more WCC wins (163) than any other coach in league history and he’s been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
• Sollars, who was the head coach at Portland State before coming to The Bluff, is five wins away from historic win No. 400 at the NCAA Division I level.
 
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
• Junior Amy Pupa had a historic night last Thursday night when she grabbed 19 rebounds against Pepperdine, which missed tying a UP program record by one.
• Six of Pupa’s boards came on the offensive end of the court, and she easily topped her previous career high of 15.
• Sarah Green holds the UP program single-game record at the NCAA DI level, which she set back in 1998 when she grabbed 20 boards.
• Lorena Legarde holds the all-time record of 24 rebounds, which she accomplished in 1982 when the Pilots played at the NAIA level.
 
SOPHOMORE SURGE
• Sophomore Kari Luttinen, a native of Seattle, Wash., is putting up a team-best 12.7 points per game, she’s led the team in scoring 12 times and she’s scored at least 20 points three times.
• She was also named the WCC’s Player of the Week twice in December and she ranks eighth in the league in scoring.
• Luttinen, who was named to the WCC’s All-Freshman Team last year, poured in a career-best 23 points during a win over Nevada on Dec. 14.
• During a win at Idaho on Nov. 16, Luttinen recorded her first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
 
FROM ACROSS THE POND
• The Pilots have a well-established history of featuring Australians on their roster, but this season Portland features a trio of Europeans.
• Freshmen Ellen Nurmi and Annika Holopainen both came to The Bluff from Finland, while freshman Sara Ines Hernandez hails from Italy.
• Holopainen is averaging 9.4 points per game, she has reached double figures 10 times and she exploded for 29 points on 13 of 17 shooting at San Francisco (Jan. 12).
• Holopainen is putting up 10.3 points per game against conference foes, which ranks second among freshman.
• Nurmi is tops on the Pilots in three-pointers made (36), she’s scored in double figures nine times, scored a career-best 19 points against San Diego (Jan. 5) and is putting up 8.7 points per game.
 
OWNING THE PAINT
• Portland posts Amy Pupa and Cassandra Thompson have emerged this season as two of the premier rebounders in the WCC.
• Pupa, a junior, is Portland’s top rebounder and ranks third in the WCC with an 8.0 per game average; she has recorded 10+ rebounds in game six times this season, including the past two straight games, and she scored 12 points with 14 boards during a win at Idaho (Nov. 16) for her first career double-double.
• Thompson, a sophomore, has registered career highs in both points (18 vs. Nevada) and rebounds (14 at Idaho) this winter, and on Dec. 29 she tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 boards against Portland State.
 
CAREER MILESTONES
• Long-time head coach Jim Sollars, who’s in his 27th year at the helm of the Pilots, coached in his 1,000th career game at Santa Clara last season on Jan. 5.
• Sollars had stops at Wenatchee CC (seven years) and Portland State (three years) before settling in at UP.
• Sollars has more WCC wins (163) than any other coach in the 25-year history of the league, has compiled 372 career wins at UP and has been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
• He has 549 wins total, he’s led the Pilots to three WCC titles and one WCC Tournament title, and he’s guided Portland to four NCAA Tournaments.
• Sollars is also just five wins away from historic win No. 400 at the NCAA Division I level.